Apparatus for mounting end stops on slide fastener stringers



March 17, 1953 H. LEVINE 2,631,638

APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING END STOPS ON SLIDE FASTENER STRINGERS Filed July 1, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 INVENTOR. WW-er 16w v A '7' TORNEY March 17, 19 53 H. LEVINE 2,631,638

APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING END STOPS ON SLIDE FASTENER STRINGERS Filed July 1, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 IN VEN TOR. F/ j/Y awn/6- 48 A 2 T0 ENE Y a slot 225.

Patented Mar. 17, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS F OR MOUNTING END STOPS ON SLIDE FASTENER STRINGERS Harry Levine, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application July 1, 1949, Serial No. 102,464

6 Claims.

This invention relates to an apparatus for mounting end stops on slide fastener stringers.

It is an object of my invention to provide an apparatus of the character described which is positive and eflicient in operation and is of simple construction;

Other objects of my invention will in part be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

My invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of my invention,

Fig. 1 is a side partially sectional view of an end stop attaching apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 22 of. Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front view of said apparatus;

Figs. 4 and 5 are enlarged fragmentary sectional views taken substantially along the lines 44 and 5-5 respectively of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line 6-6 of Fig. 2, the same being illustrative of the position of the'principal operating parts of the machine at the start of an attaching cycle;

Figs. '7 and 8 are views similar to Fig. 6 but showing the positions of said parts at two later points of the cycle;

Fig. 9 is a view taken substantially along the line 9-9- of Fig. 7; and

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of an end stop prior to attachment thereof.

Referring now in detail to' the drawings, the reference numeral 2!! denotes an apparatus embodying my invention. Said apparatus includes a suitable feeding mechanism (not shown) for holding a plurality of unattached slide fastener end stops in a hopper, for withdrawing end stops from the hopper in a predetermined position and for transferring them to a gravity chute consisting of a. pair of vertical coplanar plates 22, 24, having a pair of juxtaposed edges which define Any suitable mechanism of the character described can be employed and, as an example thereof, reference is made to my copending application, Serial No. 13,406, filed March 6, 1948, for a Method and Apparatus for Attaching End Stops on Slide Fastener stringers wherein one such mechanism is illustrated.

Ihe apparatus 28 is designed to attach end stops 28 (see Fig. 10) which essentially comprise a U-shaped member constituting a base strap 30 from whose two ends stub arms 32, 36 extend in the same direction. Each arm is bifurcated to form a pair of inwardly curved, outspread fingers 36, 3%. The arms 32, 34 are substantially perpendicular to the base 38 and the distance between the tips of the fingers 30 is slightly in excess of the thickness of the beaded edge of the slide fastener stringer on which an end stop is to be mounted.

The unattached end stops 28 gravitate down the chute 26 with their base straps 30 between the juxtaposed edges of the plates 22, 24' and with their arms and fingers 32, 34, 36, 38 straddling the forward plate 24. The width of the longitudinal zone of this forward plate thus embraced by the arms and fingers, is slightly less than the distance between said arms (see Fig. 2) so that descent of the end stops in the chute is positionally controlled.

The plates 22, 24 are secured in some suitable fashion, for example by screws 40, toa block 42 mounted on the base 44 of the machine. Said block includes a bed 46 on which a hardened insert-type anvil 8 is supported at the attaching station. This anvil is directly below a vertically reciprocable die 5!; which is slidable in a journal 52 integral with the block 42.

The bed 46 extends from beneath the deliver end of the chute 26 to the anvil 48. The fiat upper face of said bed is uniformly spaced below the straight bottom end of the forward chute plate 24 a distance slightly greater than the width of the base strap 3!! (the height of said strap in the position shown in Fig. 8) so that said base strap can ride forwardly to the attaching station in erect position through the space between the chute and bed.

The part of the bed between the chute and anvil is formed with a pair of parallel slots 54 which are spaced apart a proper distance to receive and guide the lower fingers 38 on the arms 32, 34 as the stops travel to the attaching station. The upper fingers 35 on said arms at the same time embrace opposite sides of the forward chute gravitationally delivered from the chute to the bed and travelling along the bed to the anvil will be maintained in proper position throughout their transfer to the attaching station. This arrangement does away with the use of control pins for holding end stops in their desired position during transfer and also eliminates the necessity of disengaging the con rol pins from the stops immediately prior or subsequent to attachment of said stops.

Means is provided to push the end stops from the delivery end of the chute forwardly to the attaching station at the anvil. Such means comprises a pusher late 58 in the form of a long slender metal strip which is thin enough to enter snugly into the space between the bottom ends of the chute plates 22, 24 and the upper surface of the bed Mi. The back end of said plate is supported in a central slot as of a stepped plunger 62 which is slidable in a bore 64 formed in the forward end of a drive bar 6b. The drive bar is slidably mounted in a journal 68 supported on the base of the machine, said bar being so positioned that the pusher plate is located in the space between the lower end of the chute and the a shaft, the shaft being actuated from a suitable source of power through a one-revolution clutch controlled by a treadle or the like, so that each time the treadle is depressed the bar will reciprocate through one cycle and thereafter remain idle until the treadle has been released and again depressed.

The die 59 also is actuated by the drive bar. For this purpose said die is provided with an upwardly extending shank M terminating in a tappet head 16. compression spring 18 encircling the shank M and lying between the head it and journal 52. The tappet is engaged by the hammer head 86 of a ram screw 82 adjustably threaded into'the front end 84 of a rocker arm 86. Said screw after adjustment to proper operative position is locked in place by a set screw'88. The rocker arm 85 is horizontally pivoted on the block 42 by a thick pin 9!! and the front end of said arm is offset as best seen in Figs. 2 and 3, in order to enable the ram screw to strike the center of the tappet head when the rocker arm is oscillated.

The rear end of the rocker arm rotatacly supports a follower roller 92 which, when the die 55 is in its uppermost position, is disposed to lie in the path of travel of the forward end of the drive bar 86. This end of the drive bar is fashioned with a rounded nose 94 which, as the bar reciprocates, will engage and lift said roller and thus start downward movement of the die Immediately in back of the rounded nose, the drive bar constitutes a hat cam surface 9t parallel to the axis of the bar so that when the roller rides on this surface, the surface acts as a dwell and maintains the die so in a partially depressed position (see Fig. 6). The fiat cam surface 96 is so positioned, having in mind the sizes and relationships of the rocker arm, die and anvil, that when the roller 92 engages said surface, the tip 98 of the die is spaced from the bottom of the The die is urged upwardly by a slot 56 by a distance just proper to snugly accommodate an end stop in the position in which it is fed to the attaching station.

In back of the dwell 95, the cam surface includes a rise 98 which runs into a second flat or dwell I86. Thus, when the drive bar moves further forwardly, the die 50 after being momentarily halted in its downward descent will continue to move toward the anvil 4B and, after it has reached its lowest position (see Fig. '7), will halt momentarily before starting upward.

The length of the pusher plate 58 and the position and stroke of the drive bar is such that, when the roller engages the nose 94, the pusher bar has not yet transferred the lowermost end stop to the attaching station, although at such time the transfer may have begun as indicated at Fig. 1. When the roller is on the dwell 9B, the pusher plate will have delivered the end stop at the attaching station. The tip 98' of the die is formed with a rearwardly facing step [04 so that when the tip is in its position corresponding to engagement of the roller 92 and dwell 9B, the step constitutes a shoulder aligned with the forward edge of the slot 56. Said shoulder and edge act as abutment members to determine the location of an end stop at the attaching station. This position is indicated in Fig. 6.

The plunger 62 is urged forwardly by a compression spring 102 in the bore 64 so that after the end stop to be attached is abutted against the tip of the die and the forward edge of the anvil slot, the pusher plate can advance no farther although this does not prevent further forward movement of the drive bar.

The position indicated in Fig. 6, that is to say when an end stop is pressed against the tip of the dieand the edge of the anvil slot and when the roller is on the forward dwell 96, is the stopping (or starting) point of the operative cycle, that is tosay, the point at which the one-revolution clutch brings the apparatus to a halt. It will be appreciated that when an end stop is in this position, the head of the slide fastener tape readily can be inserted by an operator between the outstretched fingers 36, 38. Then, upon subsequent actuation of the machine, the drive bar will continue its forward travel so that the riser 98 engages the roller and further depresses the die. As the die descends, it will urge together the fingers 36, 38 of each of the arms as indicated in Fig. 7. After the end stop has been attached as indicated in Fig. 8, the machine continues its, cycle, the drive bar retracts to the position of Fig. 8 wherein the tip of the pusher plate is in back of the deliver end of the gravity chute so as to allow the lowermost stop to drop out of the chute. Then the bar advances to the position shown in Fig. l to push the lowermost end stop toward the attaching station and finally the punch descends to its intermediate position and the plate presses the end stop against the punch as shown in Fig. 7 whereupon the machine stops. It may be mentioned that, when the die rises, the tape with attached stop is withdrawn.

It thus will be seen that I have provided a device which achieves the several objects of my invention and is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments may be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. I Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. An apparatus for mounting on a slide fastener stringer, an end stop including a base strap and a pair of arms each of which has a pair of fingers: said apparatus comprising a gravity chute, a bed beneath and spaced from the discharge end of the chute by a distance approximately equal to the width of the base strap, said bed having parallel slots for slidably engaging the lowermost finger of each pair of fingers of anend stop discharged from the chute, the discharge end of said chute including a member of a width equal to the distance between the inner surfaces of the uppermost finger of each pair of fingers of an end stop discharged from said chute, said stop being slidably engaged by the member, an anvil supported by and flush with said bed and having a depressed surface constituting a continuation of the bases of the slots, a die, means to mount said die for reciprocation transverse to "the anvil, a pusher plate, means to mount said pusher plate for reciprocation in and along the space between said bed and the discharge end of said chute, a reciprocation member, said lastnamed member being mounted to reciprocate with a substantial component in a direction parallel to the motion of the pusher plate, resilient means under compression interposed between portions of said reciprocating member and said pusher plate, and means to actuate said die by engage- ,ment with said reciprocating member, said lastnamed means constituting a mechanism to convert motion of said reciprocating member towards the anvil to simultaneous transverse motion of the die toward the anvil, said mechanism including means to move the die from an idle position remote from the anvil to an intermediate position between idle and actuated positions, and then to an. actuated position in which the die clenches an end stop disposed between it and the anvil, said die in intermediate position being spaced from the anvil a distance sufficient barely to engage an end stop without clenching the same, said apparatus including a pair of aligned abutments, one on the top of the anvil and the other on the bottom of the die, to detain an end stop when the pusher plate moves the same forwardly from the discharge end of the chute, said die being in its intermediate position prior to and. after the time that the pusher plate .presses an end stop against the abutments where- -by;when the die is in its intermediate position with a stop pressed against the abutment a stringer may be inserted between the arms of the stop; the minimum contracted lengthof said resilient means being less than the distance between said portions of said reciprocating member and pusher plate when said pusher plate is pressing an end stop against the abutments and said reciprocating member is closestto said anvil,

discharge end of the'chute by a distance approxi- 6 Q mately equal to the width of the base strap, said bed having parallel slots for slidably engaging the lowermost finger of each pair of fingers of an end stop discharged from the chute, the discharge end of said chute including a member of a width equal to the distance between the inner surfaces of the uppermost finger of each pair of fingers of an end stop discharged from said chute, said stop being slidably engaged by the member, an anvil supported byand fiush with said bed and havin a depressed surface constituting a continuation of the bases of the slots, a die, means to mount said die for reciprocation transverse to the anvil, a pusher plate, means to mount said pusher plate for reciprocation in and along the space between said bed and the discharge end of said chute, a reciprocating member, said last-named member being mounted to reciprocate with a substantial component in a direction parallel to the motion of the pusher plate, resilient means under compression interposed between portions of said reciprocating member and said pusher plate, and means to actuate said die by engagement with said reciprocating member, said last-named means comprising a rocker arm having a ram end, a tappet head on the die, means to bias the tappet head against the ram end, means to pivotally mount the rocker arm, a follower on said arm and a cam carried by said reciprocating member and engaging said follower, said cam constituting a mechanism to convert motion of said reciprocating member towards the anvil to simultaneous transverse motion of the die toward the anvil, said mechanism including means to move the die from an idle position remote from the anvil to an intermediate position between idle and actuated positions, and then to an actuated position in which the die clenches an end stop disposed between it and the anvil, said die in intermediate position being spaced from the anvil a distance sumcient barely to engage an end stop without clenching the same, said apparatus including a pair of aligned abutments, one on the top of the anvil and the other on the bottom of the die, to' detain an end stop when the pusher plate moves the same forwardly from the dis- I charge end of the chute, said die being in its intermediate position prior to and after the time that the pusher plate presses an end stop against the abutments whereby when the die is in its intermediate position with a stop pressed against the abutments a stringer may be inserted between the arms of the stop, the minimum contracted length of said resilient means being less than the distance between said portions'of said reciprocating member and pusher plate when said pusher plate is pressing an end stop against the abutments and said reciprocating member is closest to said anvil, whereby said motion of said reciprocating member and said simultaneous transverse motion of the die can continue while the motion or the pusher plate is stopped when it is pressing an and stop against the abutments. 3. An apparatus for mounting on a slide fastener stringer, an end stop including a base strap and a pair of arms each of which has a pair of fingers: said apparatus comprising a ravity chute, a bed beneath and spaced from the discharge end of the chute by a distance approximately equal to the width of the base strap, said bed having parallel slots for slidably engaging the lowermost fingers of each pair of fingers of an end stop discharged from the chute, ananvil supported by and flush with said bed, said anvil including a depressed surface constituting a continuation of the bases of the slots in the bed, a die, means to mount said die for reciprocation transverse to the anvil, a pusher plate, means to mount said pusher plate for reciprocation in and along the space between said bed and the discharge end of said chute, a reciprocating member, said last-named member being mounted to reciprocate with a substantial component in a direction parallel to the motion of the pusher plate, resilient means under compression interposed between portions of said reciprocating member and said pusher plate, and means to actuate said die by engagement with said reciproeating, member, said last-named means constituting a mechanism to convert motion of said reciprocating member towards the anvil to simultaneous transverse motion of the die toward the anvil, said mechanism including means to move the die from an idle position remote from the anvil to an intermediate position between idle and actuated positions, and then to an actuated position in which the die clenches an end stop disposed between it and the anvil, said die in intermediate position being spaced from the anvil a distance sufficient barely to engage an end stop without clenching the same, said apparatus including a pair of aligned abutments, one on the top of the anvil and the other on the bottom of the die, to detain an end stop when the pusher plate moves the same forwardly from the discharge end of the chute, said die being in its intermediate position prior to and after the time that the pusher plate presses an end stop against the abutments whereby when the die is in its intermediate position with a stop pressed against the abutments, a stringer may be inserted between the arms of the stop, the minimum contracted length of said resilient means being less than the distance between said portions of said reciprocating member and pusher plate when said pusher plate is pressing an end stop against the abutments and said reciprocating member is closest to said anvil, whereby said motion of said reciprocating member and said simultaneous transverse motion of the die can continue while the motion of the pusher plate is stopped when it is pressing an end stop against the abutments.

4. In and apparatus for mounting on a slide fastener stringer, an end stop including a base strap and a pair of arms each of which has a pair of fingers: the combination of a feed chute, a bed-beneath the feed chute, an anvil carried by said bed, a die, means to mount said die for reciprocation transversely of the anvil, a pusher plate, means to mount said pusher plate for reciprocation from the discharge end of the chute to the anvil, a reciprocating member, resilient means under compression interposed between portions of said reciprocating member and said pusher plate, means to actuate said die by engagement with said reciprocating member, said last-named means constituting a mechanism to convert motion of said reciprocating member towards the anvil to simultaneous transverse motion of the die toward the anvil, said mechanism including means to move the die from an idle position remote from the anvil to an intermediate position between idle and actuated positions, and then to an actuated position in which the die clenches an end stop disposed between it and the anvil, said die in intermediate position being spaced from the anvil a distance suflicient barely to engage an end stop without clenching the same, and a pair of aligned abutments, one on the top of the anvil and the other on the bottom'of the die, to,v detain beneath the die. an end stop advanced by the pusher plate, said die being in its intermediate position prior to and after the time that the pusher plate presses an end stop against the abutments whereby when the die is in its intermediate position with a stop pressed against the abutments a stringer may be inserted between the arms of the stop, the minimum contracted length of said resilient means being less than the distance between said portions or said reciprocating member and pusher plate when said pusher plate is pressing an end stop against the abutments and said reciprocating member is closest to said anvil, whereby said motion of said reciprocating member and said simultaneous transverse motion of the die can continue while the motion of the pusher plate is stopped when it is pressing an end stop against the abutments.

5. In an apparatus for mounting on a slide fastener stringer, an end stop including a base strap and a pair of arms each of which has a pair of fingers: the combination of a feed chute, a bed beneath the feed chute, an anvil carried by said bed, a die, means to mount said die for reciprocation transversely of the anvil, a pusher plate, means to mount said pusher plate for reciprocation from the discharge end of the chute to the anvil, a reciprocating member, resilient means under compression interposed between portions of said reciprocating member and said pusher plate, and means to actuate said die by engagement with said reciprocating member, said last-named means constituting a mechanism to convert motion of said reciprocating member towards the anvil to simultaneous transverse motion of the die toward the anvil, said mechanism including means to move the die from an idle position remote from the anvil to any intermediate position between idle and actuated positions, and then to an actuated osition in which the die clenches an end stop disposed between it and the anvil, said die in intermediate position being spaced from the anvil a distance sufi'icient barely to engage an end stop without clenching the same, said die including a rearwardh facing abutment and said anvil including a rearwardly facing abutment to detain an end stop when the pusher plate moves the same forwardly from the discharge end of the chute, said die being in its intermediate position prior to and after the time that the pusher plate presses an end stop against the abutments whereby when the die is in its intermediate position with a stop pressed against the abutments, a stringer may be inserted between the arms of the stop, the minimum contracted length of said resilient means being less than the distance between said portions of said reciprocating member and pusher plate when said pusher plate is pressing an end stop against the abutments and said reciprocating member is closest to said anvil, whereby said motion or" said reciprocating member and said simultaneous transverse motion of the die can continue while the motion of the pusher plate is stopped when it is pressing an end stop against the abutments.

6. In an apparatus for mounting on a slide fastener stringer, an end stop including a base strap and a pair of arms each of which has a pair or fingers; the combination of a chute, an anvil, means to guide an end stop from the discharge end of said chute to said anvil, means including a compression spring to push the end stop along said guiding means, a die mounted to reciprocate transversely of the anvil, said die having a, step on its working face to detain an end stop pushed on the anvil and said anvil having a step on its working face to detain an end stop pushed on the same, said steps being aligned, and means to actuate said die, said last-named means including a mechanism to move the die from a position remote from the anvil to an intermediate position and then to an actuated position in which the die clenches an end stop disposed between it and the anvil, the die when in the intermediate position being spaced from the anvil a distance proper to snugly admit an end stop between the die and anvil with the stop pressed against the steps by said spring whereby when the die is in its intermediate position with a stop pressed against the steps a stringer may be inserted between the arms of the stop.

HARRY LEVINE.

10 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 900,335 Williams Oct. 6, 1908 1,632,593 Gaisman et a1 June 14, 1927 1,694,875 Gaisman Dec. 11, 1928 1,701,250 Young Feb. 5, 1929 1,836,497 Phelps et a1 Dec. 15, 1931 2,024,416 Allison Dec. 1'7, 1935 2,034,018 Bernstiel et a1 Mar. 1'7, 1936 2,209,724 Bodkin July 30, 1940 2,217,121 Lindner Oct. 8, 1940 2,352,855 Molnar July 4, 1944 

